Montana
Alpine Air CEO questions Postal Service data for air service in Montana
The U.S. Postal Service said it shifted the majority of mail in Montana that was going through the air to ground transport several months ago, but the chief executive of the air transport company said the federal agency relied on bad data to do so.
Alpine Air CEO Michael Dancy said this week he doesn’t believe the Postal Service will be able to meet its own standards for one- or two-day mail either despite its pledges to do so, the Daily Montanan reports.
“I think they’ve just decided that it’s OK to fail delivery standards in the state of Montana,” Dancy said.
Alpine Air has worked with the Postal Service in Montana for some 35 years.
A spokesperson for the Postal Service said again that it isn’t changing Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express in Montana.
“The contract move was simply to transition to more reliable surface transportation,” said spokesperson Kim Frum in an email.
Last month, the Postal Service abruptly stopped air service in Montana and then went silent in the midst of air cargo negotiations with Alpine Air despite the company’s offer to reduce its contract by $3 million.
The Postal Service has been in financial trouble, and in 2021, it released a plan to get its budget on track and, it said, “forge a bold vision for transformation” and provide “service excellence.”
It had projected a loss of $160 billion during the course of 10 years. Its plan, which included reductions in air service and investments in ground transportation, estimated a net income of $0.2 billion instead.
But implementation in Montana has been fraught with controversy.
Both U.S. Sens. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Steve Daines, a Republican, have urged the Postal Service to reverse course in the decision about air service and have been critical of other effects on Montana.
“Once again, it appears that the USPS is turning its back on rural America and attempting to solve its budget woes on the backs of our nation’s rural citizens,” said Tester in a July 18 letter to the Postmaster Louis DeJoy.
But the Postal Service stepped away from negotiations anyway, and Dancy said since then, he took a closer look at the federal agency’s plan, “Delivering for America.” And he said he found it lacking when it comes to information about air transport.
For one thing, he said, the data about air transport reflects information for all air carriers, not just postal carriers, and it doesn’t reflect Alpine Air’s record in Montana.
The report described air transport as “very unreliable,” and it said the following: “Air transport has major uncertainties and risks (weather, flight delays, etc.) that can drastically impede service performance.”
Before the pandemic, it said ground transportation met a 92% on-time performance rate, but air transportation had 89.4% on-time performance.
Dancy, however, said Alpine Air counts a 99% on-time rate, and it produced the same even during the pandemic when it was deemed an essential service.
The Postal Service’s plan, however, doesn’t make note of the 99% rate. The agency spokesperson said its plan “looks at the network as a whole and does not single out specific providers/states.”
Dancy also questioned the ability of ground transportation to deliver top service in the winter given Montana’s weather and roads, a factor Tester noted in his letter as well.
In its plan, the Postal Service said it will invest another $11 million in vehicles, but this week, the agency did not provide the Daily Montanan performance data for ground transportation related to Montana.
“Unfortunately, your request for ground data is not publicly available information,” Frum said. “However, what I can tell you is in keeping with the DFA plan, the majority of the mail for this contractor, much like others nationwide, was transitioned to existing ground transport several months ago.
“The remaining minimal volume wasn’t enough to justify continuing the service.”
The Postal Service did not directly address whether it can continue to meet delivery standards during the winter months or when mailing distances are on the longer side, such as across the country.
Last week, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester secured provisions for rural postal service in the appropriations package. Those include language directing the Postal Service to provide a briefing regarding the end of air service contracts that affect priority and express mail in Montana and other rural states.
Dancy, for one, is skeptical one- or two-day service is still possible in a state the size of Montana.
“There’s just no way they can do that,” he said. “And they know there’s no way they can do that. But that’s what they’re representing.”
Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com.
ROUNDUP, Mont. —
The Rehder Creek Fire is burning 16 miles southeast of Roundup has grown to about 5,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders for residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision.
The fire started Feb. 26, the cause is unknown and containment was at 0%.
Evacuation orders are in effect for all residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision. The Musselshell County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the evacuation orders, and 911 reverse calls have been sent out to advise people in the area.
A shelter is opening at the Roundup Community Center. Residents were told to contact Musselshell County DES for further information.
Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The public is asked to avoid the Fattig Creek and Rehder Road area so emergency personnel can safely and effectively perform their work.
Fire resources assigned to the incident include 40 total personnel, 11 engines, one Type 2 helicopter, three tenders and two dozers.
Montana
Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) – joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and 22 other Members of Congress – sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana in El Paso. They cite urgent humanitarian concerns following multiple deaths in custody, documented unsafe conditions, and serious deficiencies in medical care.
This marks the fourth letter Congresswoman Escobar has sent to DHS and ICE leadership. The previous three letters have gone unanswered.
The letter can be found in its entirety below and here.
“Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons:
We are urgently calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to shut down Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.
Camp East Montana has been operational for six months, and at least three people have died at the site since December 2025: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Victor Manuel Diaz. The El Paso County Medical Examiner has officially ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide, citing “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”
Camp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses.
According to detainees, there have been constant and consistent problems at the facility since it opened, beginning with the facility’s poor construction and poor ambient temperature control. Upon opening, the drinking water at Camp East Montana tasted foul and made some detainees sick. Detainees continue to be served inadequate meals, including food that is rotten or frozen; last fall, the facility was also consistently failing to make dietary accommodations for detainees. Detainees have shared that they have sporadic access to outside spaces and recreational areas, and that their dormitory pods are cleaned only once every eight days, despite pods housing up to 72 people at a time. Laundry services are not consistent, and people are washing their clothes in the facility showers. Additionally, the facility experiences flooding and sewage backups when it rains, leading to stagnant water.
One of the biggest concerns with the Camp East Montana facility is the inadequate medical care being provided to detainees. Our offices have heard that only the most ill detainees are referred to the medical unit and that there are inconsistencies as to how soon after arriving detainees are able to undergo initial medical screenings. Detainees with chronic health issues who rely on regimented medications for their health have had difficulty accessing necessary medications, including blood pressure medication and insulin.
At least one of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody, the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, appears to partially be the result of poor medical care by staff at the facility. According to ICE’s own account, Gaspar-Andres sought medical attention from facility staff for increasingly serious symptoms, but was only transferred to an area hospital once his condition had severely deteriorated.
In addition to our concerns about poor medical care, we are also aware that detainees have experienced irregular access to their legal counsel, including instances of detainees having only two minutes allotted per phone call every 8 days, which is contrary to ICE’s Detention Standards on access to counsel, and that the belatedly created law library lacks adequate resources for the amount of people currently held at the facility. In January 2026, ICE announced the on-site death of Geraldo Lunas Campos “after experiencing medical distress.” ICE opened an investigation into the death, but did not provide a cause of death. However, The Washington Post later reported that another man detained at Camp East Montana had witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos when he refused to enter a segregated housing unit. Weeks later, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled that Lunas Campos had experienced “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and ruled his death a homicide.
Lunas Campos is the first detainee to die at Camp East Montana as a result of a use-of-force incident, but we are strongly concerned that he will not be the last if ICE is allowed to continue operating Camp East Montana.
ICE was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars in the reconciliation bill, $1.2 billion of which were awarded to Acquisition Logistics, LLC, a company with no previous experience managing immigration detention facilities, to build and oversee Camp East Montana. However, in the wake of three deaths in custody so far, continued concerns about conditions at the facility, and ICE’s apparent disinterest in responding to oversight letters from Congress, we do not believe Camp East Montana is being run professionally or responsibly.
Camp East Montana must be shut down. For the safety of everyone at the facility, for an end to abuses to detainees, and for fiscal responsibility to the American people, the site cannot continue to operate. We are calling on DHS and ICE to move to immediately close operations at Camp East Montana.
We look forward to hearing from the Department promptly on this matter.
The other co-signers include Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Nanette Barragán, Yvette Clarke, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Henry Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Darren Soto, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Lauren Underwood, Gabe Vasquez, and Nydia Velázquez.
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